Thread: Lawmaker's wife not troubled by gun

dailydemocrat.com
Published By Daily Democrat
Created: 01/07/2012 12:30:49 AM PST

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- The wife of a state lawmaker said Friday she isn't concerned that her husband might have endangered his family by hiding a loaded handgun inside his briefcase because her children know how to handle firearms.

State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly was cited with a misdemeanor after Transportation Security Administration screeners found the Colt .45 handgun inside his carry-on luggage Wednesday as he was headed to board a flight at Ontario International Airport, east of Los Angeles.

At the time, Donnelly explained that he began carrying the gun after receiving death threats and hid it in his briefcase so his wife would not be alarmed.

Rowena Donnelly said she and the couple's five sons know how to shoot and handle guns safely.

"For my husband to have the gun there didn't bother me," she told The Associated Press. "We train them, they know that a gun is not a toy."

Three of the couple's sons, ages 12 to 18, live at the family's home in the Southern California mountain community of Twin Peaks, while their two older sons live on their own. Had her children found the gun, she said "they would have immediately called their dad to tell him, 'Hey Dad, your gun's out."'

Donnelly said he keeps his firearms in a gun safe, but took the Colt .45 to the garage while he was home alone on New Year's Eve. He hid the gun in the briefcase when his wife and children came home.

Airport screeners said they found the gun loaded with four bullets, along with a separate magazine with another five rounds.

Donnelly and his wife said he became a target for threats over his opposition to illegal immigration. He once headed the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps of California, a vigilante group that patrolled the U.S.-Mexico border in search of people attempting to enter the U.S illegally.

This winter, he led a drive seeking to overturn a law that allows illegal immigrant college students to receive public financial aid, known as the California Dream Act, though he announced Friday that the effort had failed to gather enough signatures.

Donnelly told the AP that he was mentally exhausted from working nonstop on the campaign when he forgot about the gun, but added, "I'm not going to make any excuses."

The San Bernardino County district attorney's office was reviewing the citation, said spokesman Christopher Lee. Ontario Airport Police Sgt. Belinda Nettles said police are recommending a misdemeanor charge of possessing a loaded firearm. Authorities said Donnelly does not have a permit to carry a hidden gun.

Nettles said there were no circumstances that would merit a more serious charge. "There was no special treatment," she said. "We don't provide special treatment for celebrities

The couple said in separate interviews that they both became concerned after a man charged at the assemblyman while they were gathering referendum signatures the day after Christmas. The man shouted threats, but was restrained by other campaign volunteers.

"It was pretty scary. I didn't really think anything of it until I remembered the incident in Arizona and the congresswoman," Rowena Donnelly said, referring to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded by a shot to the head a year ago. "There are some crazies out there."

Donnelly didn't report the incident or several emailed threats until after his gun was confiscated at the airport. He denied intending to bring the weapon to Sacramento and said he had never brought a gun to the state Capitol.

Spokesmen for the California Highway Patrol and state Assembly said there is no indication Donnelly ever tried to bring a weapon into the Capitol. However, they are reviewing whether Donnelly needs protection, said Ronald E. Pane, the Assembly's chief sergeant-at-arms.

Donnelly described the airport encounter, saying the screener made friendly comments that she recognized him as an assemblyman and the leading opponent of the Dream Act. Then "her face turned to horror" when she saw the weapon on her screening monitor, he said.

"They were very professional and they determined I was not a threat," he said. "Once they determined I was not a threat, I was a guy on his way to work who made an honest mistake. There was no need to book me."

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_19694651

Related; http://www.alipac.us/threads/247501-...82#post1247882